Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council wrote to her demanding payment for a penalty charge notice she had already paid. This is because the Council has taken appropriate action to resolve the matter.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains the Council is pursuing her for a penalty charge notice (PCN) she has already paid. She says this caused her stress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I reviewed Miss X’s complaint, made enquiries of the Council and considered its response. I shared my draft decision with Miss X and invited her comments.

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What I found

4. The Council issued Miss X a PCN for a parking contravention in May 2019.
5. There is a set procedure councils must follow when pursuing PCNs for parking contraventions and handling appeals against them. When a council issues a PCN the motorist has 28 days to pay the penalty charge or appeal; appeals at this stage are known as ‘informal challenges’.
6. If the motorist submits an informal challenge to a PCN and the Council decides not to accept them, it will write to the motorist and explain why. If the motorist accepts the Council’s reasons they may pay the PCN; if not, they may wait for a ‘notice to owner’. This provides a further opportunity for the owner of the vehicle to pay the charge or make ‘formal representations’ against the PCN. If the council rejects the motorist’s formal representations the motorist may appeal to London Tribunals.
7. Miss X informally challenged the PCN but the Council rejected her challenge. She then made representations in response to the notice to owner, but again the Council refused to cancel the PCN. The Council noted in its final rejection that Miss X had not received its responses to her informal challenges and agreed to accept payment for the PCN at a discounted rate of 50% of the full fine. By this point Miss X had paid the PCN so the Council agreed to refund her £40. However, due to an internal error the Council escalated the case and threatened further action in the event she did not pay another £88. Miss X is unhappy with the Council’s correspondence and wants compensation.
8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The Council accepts it made a mistake in writing to Miss X to demand further payment and confirms the PCN is recorded as paid and closed; it will not therefore take any further action.
9. Where the Ombudsman finds fault by a local authority we will always try to put the person back in the position they would have been, had the fault not occurred. The Council’s actions do this for Miss X and it is unlikely we would recommend any further remedy for her.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has provided a suitable remedy for its fault and it is unlikely we would recommend anything more.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman